Just A Dream
by 70's Lover
Summary: Dreams were never meant to be shattered.


Disclaimer: I do not own the outsiders, they belong to S.E Hinton. I do own Vanessa and the other Original Characters.

Ponyboy Curtis and his sister were sitting at home watching the news just like they do every morning before they went to school; the news cast was talking about a camp where soldiers were at that got bombed. Darry promptly turned the TV off with a sigh; he hated to hear how soldiers were dying in 'Nam, when his brother and a good friend were over there.

Darry looked at the two young ones that were on the couch; "Get ready for school; I'll drop you guys off on the way to store."

Pony and Vanessa nodded and went to their rooms to get ready for school. They both hated the fact their brother was overseas. Hell, Vanessa even hated the fact that Steve was also overseas and she had no idea when she'd see either of them. She quickly got dressed in her blue skirt and matching blue top and went to the living room to join her brother.

Pony sat there and waited for Vanessa and Darry to hurry up. Both kids just wanted to go to school and get the day over with just like always; trying to block out the absences of Sodapop and even Steve. Darry came out of his room and the three of them left. Darry dropped them off at school.

"I'll pick you up after school, wait for me at the office and I'll come in and get you two," he told them softly. They nodded and ran inside before they became late for class. Vanessa went to her English class while Pony went to gym putting on a mask to hide their real feelings from the world.

Four class periods later was lunchtime. Pony and Vanessa sat down together and enjoyed their lunch. Well Pony did, Vanessa just sat there and didn't eat much. She was in too much of a daze of what was going on in the war to worry about eating. What she wanted was her brother to come home and her friend to come home also.

The day went by oh so slowly for the two kids, Vanessa was in Gym and she told her teacher that she forgot her clothes, but the truth was she didn't feel like joining in the fun. Pony sat in his history class watching the news about the war in Nam. He got up and left the class, not caring what the teacher said or anything. He hated to watch or hear about the death of the soldiers. Didn't the school care that he had family and a friend over there, along with many other students?

Darry was sitting at home taking care of the groceries before he had to go to work; when there was a knock on the door; "Be right there!" he called as he quickly placed the eggs into the fridge.

He made his way at a fast pace to the door when there was another knock, he just figured it was Two-Bit who was helping him carry things in and forgot to open the door before he started bringing in the bags.

"Okay, Two-Bit I'm here," he joked before he opened the door.

When he opened the door he saw a site he never wished to see, two Army guys were standing there holding their hats at their sides. They both had a sad look on their faces.

"Ca-Can I help you?" Darry stuttered, hoping they had the wrong house and that this was some sort of sick joke.

The one soldier pulled a pair of dog tags out of a small bag and Darry's eyes started to water, "Is this the Curtis residence?" the one asked and all Darry could do was nod, feeling the lump build up in his throat, making it hard for him to talk or even breathe.

"Y-yes," Darry said finally getting the word to come out.

'We have some bad news about your brother Sodapop," the same guy told him, making the tears fall from his eyes; "We're sorry but the camp he was staying in was bombed, no one made it. We're so sorry."

Darry's knees started buckling making him fall to the floor. Two-Bit came in from the back door and saw the site of Darry crying, it took a lot to make Darrel Curtis cry.

"Dar, what's wrong man?" Two-Bit worriedly asked his buddy.

"Soda, camp, bombed, no one," was all Darry could get out.

"Wait what?" Two-Bit asked confused then looked at the two Soldiers and saw the looks on their faces, it then hit him on what was going on.

"Are you family of Sodapop Curtis?" the one asked and Two-Bit nodded in reply, "We're sorry for your loss, the camp he was staying at was bombed, no one survived."

Two-Bit's eyes filled up with tears as he knelt down next to his friend and wrapped him in a hug. Darry and Two-Bit sat there crying for a few moments before the other Soldier said something, "Do you have any other family we need to notify?"

-0-

Pony and Vanessa were sitting in Math class next to each other; happy they finally had someone to talk to in a class. Pony was moved up to the next level of Math and put in the same class as her.

"Okay class, today's lesson is about fractions," the teacher started and suddenly there was a knock on the door interrupting her; "hold on class I'll be right back."

She left the classroom and saw Darry, Two-Bit and two Soldiers standing there.

"Mrs. Martins?" The one asked. She nodded.

"Yes, what is this about?" she asked in return.

"We need to speak to Vanessa and Ponyboy Curtis please," the one Soldier told her.

"May I ask why?" she asked.

"We have some bad news about their brother Sodapop, he was killed in the war," the one guy bluntly told her. She felt the tears start to build up in her eyes as she thought 'those poor kids'.

"Okay, um, give me a second please," she softly told him, she feels so sorry for the two young ones that they are getting the news of a loved one like this. She grew close to Pony and Vanessa since they were two great students in class and fun to talk to.

She stepped inside and went to Pony and Vanessa, "Ponyboy, Vanessa your brother Darrel is here, he needs to talk to you two alone in the hallway please," she softly told them. They got up, leaving their stuff on their desks.

They heard the mummers of the other students as they left the room, they heard one say 'maybe they got kicked out of school or something,' Vanessa rolled her eyes and followed Pony out of the room.

"Ponyboy, Vanessa, um, we," was all Darry could get out before the lump came back.

"What's going on?" Vanessa quietly asked, scared as hell to know what was going on right now.

"Ms. Curtis," the one started.

"Vanessa," she told him and he smiled a little, but the smile disappeared as fast as it came.

"Vanessa, Ponyboy, we have some bad news about your brother," the one guy softly said. Vanessa leaned against Two-Bit already not liking where this conversation was going.

"No, this, this can't be happening," she already had a feeling of what the news could be. Darry put the dog tags around her neck; with that simple move she felt her knees start to buckle. The dog tags made the news seem even worse than saying it out loud. Two-Bit caught her as she fell. Pony was confused about everything, not really sure what to say until he heard the guys talk more.

"Your brothers camp was bombed, no one survived," the guy told them softly as Two-Bit held Vanessa as she cried.

"No, this can't be right…..my brother promised that he was going to come back home," Pony told the soldier loudly disbelief in his voice.

"I'm sorry for your loss," the guy said and the soldiers left the family to be alone for a while.

"No, no, no, they are lying, when we get home Soda's gonna be there laughing at us since he set this up as a sick joke," Vanessa tried to convince herself.

"I wish it was Vessa," Two-Bit told her softly making her cry harder. She got out of Two-Bits grip, went into the classroom, Two-Bit behind her and packed hers and Pony's stuff up.

After Vanessa and Two-Bit went back to the hallway, the four of them left the school and climbed into the truck, Two-Bit was driving since Darry's vision was blurry from crying. When they got home they walked in and saw a guy passed out asleep on the couch. Vessa looked at him closely then saw it was Steve, she shook him.

He woke up and held her in his arms as they both cried, "I'm so sorry Vessa," Steve told her quietly. She sniffled and just nodded as she climbed up onto his lap.

"Wel-Welcome ho-home Steve," she whispered as she cried more.

"Thanks, sweetie," he told her and the two of them ended up falling asleep on the couch.

Two weeks later the funeral for Soda came around. No one thought the day would come, they all thought it was a prank and Soda was waiting for them somewhere to jump out and yell surprise at them.

They all were dressed in black as they approached the graveyard, Vessa was crying even harder when she saw Soda was being buried next to their father. She knelt down to her mother's grave and placed a red rose next to the headstone and did the same for her father.

She slowly stood back up and watched the six men unload the flag draped coffin. They placed the coffin on the lift so it can be buried.

As she watched, the soldiers slowly took the flag off from the casket, folding it neatly into a triangle. Tears flowing from the eyes of whom all were watching. The soldiers handed Darry the folded up flag, tears were falling like a waterfall as Darry held onto that folded up flag.

A twenty-one gun salute in honor of the falling was shot into the air as the casket was slowly placed into the ground. Everyone who was there placed a handful of dirt onto the casket after it was placed in its final resting place. The crew placed all the dirt back into its hole.

Slowly she walked over and knelt down in front of the headstone and spoke these words: "To a loving brother who knew how to cheer everyone up, you will be missed, I love you," she placed a single red rose in front of the headstone. She slowly rose to her feet and turned to leave; turning ever so slowly she swore she saw her happy go lucky brother standing nearby. With a blink of the eye he was gone.


End file.
